Innovations and unique solutions are likely to emerge in an environment where people are able to express their ideas without fear of judgment or contradiction.

To get the best from your team in planning and problem solving sessions, it is important to adopt a new mindset, as well as to learn new strategies and skills.

Most people find change difficult.

When the change involves loss, change management can help staff move quickly from their legitimate emotional responses into problem-solving and planning.

When the change involves new technologies or business processes, managing change involves strategies to allay fears by keeping everyone informed and comfortably developing new skills throughout the changeover.

If you are frustrated by your staff or are having trouble with staff retention, I encourage you to be brave and look at how you might change.

It helps to examine your beliefs and methods so you can find ways to improve.

Your workplace is bound to become more cheerful and cooperative. That will mean good staff will stay on and be more productive.

Leaders have three main tasks.

Leaders who focus only on just one or two of the tasks are set to fail but those who combine all three are on their way to success.

In this video I talk about the three tasks.

Many workplaces have diverse personalities who find it difficult to coordinate and collaborate successfully with each other.

Here is how to get them to work together as a cooperative team.

People with high emotional intelligence can create an atmosphere of cooperation and calm when problems are difficult, frustrating or painful.

These are skills that can be learnt.